Hi everyone! I just took my DAT last week, and I wanted to tell everyone what I thought since I gained a lot of useful advice from SDN during my studying.
Scores:
BIO: 22
GC: 26
OC: 23
TS: 23
PAT: 29
RC: 21
QR: 26
Overall experience: I studied for just under 6 weeks for the DAT. Granted, I did watch Chad's GC videos throughout the semester since I hadn't had GC since junior year of high school. I had to rewatch them again, though, since I forgot them. I studied between 8-12 hours a day and made sure to keep my sanity by doing a couple fun things on the weekends and working out regularly. I had to push my date back by 10 days because I didn't think I was going to be ready in one month from the time I started studying, and I realized this about two weeks in. I spent the first week doing Chad's videos, the second 1.5 weeks doing DAT Destroyer, and the rest of the time was a mix of practice tests and reviewing material, particularly bio and GC. In addition to those things, I spread the Math Destroyer tests out and the Crack DAT Pat tests out. I was really happy with my scores. The only section I felt really unsure on was bio. I had about 15 minutes left to review on the science section and 5 min left for the PAT. I was crammed for time on RC because I'm a really slow reader. I also finished about 5 minutes early on QR.
What I used to study:
AP Barrons Biology and the flashcards that you can buy with it: Excellent. I think this covered almost all the topics that were on my exam, but I wish I had had more time to study it.
Chad's videos: These were hands down awesome. They're the best for GC, but I felt like the other sections were well done. Chad is the man.
DAT Destroyer: Excellent, but I wish I had done the questions after I had done more reviewing. I think I would have felt more confident, and it would have been a better use of my time. If I had had more time to study for the exam, I would have done this book a second, third, etc. time and marked the ones I got wrong. I would have kept doing the ones I got wrong until I got them all right.
Math Destroyer: Excellent. This was way harder than my actual DAT, but prepared me really well. See Math below for more info.
CRACK DAT PAT: Good. This was worth my money because it helped me learn how to do all the sections. I felt like the hole punching, cube counting, and angle ranking were on par with the actual exam, but the key holes, TFE, and pattern folding were. I finished all these tests before the taking any Bootcamp practice exams.
DAT Bootcamp: Excellent. These tests were harder than my actual exam in every section, so I felt really prepared when I was actually testing.
Bio: My score was comparable to the higher scores of my practice tests. I definitely felt unsure on this section, but I think that's because I really didn't have a ton of time to study and review the material in detail... and it's a ton of material. I read though Cliff's AP and highlighted. That didn't really sink in, so I bought the AP Barrons Bio book with the 500+ flashcards that come with it. I outlined all the chapters in the book and did the end of chapter quizzes. I went through the flashcards ~3 times, and I really liked those! I used DAT Destroyer, but I think I made the mistake of using this book too early in my studying. I wish I had studied more first so I could have taken better advantage of DAT Destroyer rather than losing confidence.
GC: My actual test scores were higher than most of my practice test scores, except for one of my Bootcamp tests that predicted a 30 on the actual. I cannot stress enough how wonderful Chad's videos were for GC. Everything on my test was something he covered. I watched them throughout the semester since I hadn't had GC since junior year of high school. I started working on Destroyer problems and took some practice tests and came to the conclusion that I really needed to redo all the GC videos, so I did. And the Bootcamp test I took the day after was the one that I got a predicted score of 30 on. Again, I think Destroyer would have been way more helpful if I had waited and reviewed more before starting it.
OC: My actual test score was the lowest out of all my practice tests. I usually would only get 1-2 wrong. I didn't really study for this section because I had just finished OC in school, and I had a really hard but great professor. I did watch Chad's videos though, and I thought he did a great job.
PAT: Honestly, I have no clue how I managed to score this high. I got good scores on practices tests but never a 29. I started out with CRACK DAT PAT, and I think it was definitely worth my time and money. It helped me learn how to do the problems and got me used to the timing. Also, their format is how the actual DAT looks. I think the angles, hole punch, and cube counting are comparable to the actual test, but the keyholes, TFE, and pattern folding were slightly harder. I credit DAT Bootcamp for preparing me for the harder keyholes, TFEs, and pattern folding. I felt really comfortable on my test and finished 5 minutes early.
RC: I definitely started out the weakest in this section, and this was my weakest section on the actual test as well. I'm a slow reader, so I had to figure out a good method. It's hard to "study" for this section, but I think the best thing to do is just to read articles to increase your speed. My first Bootcamp test I actually scored a 16 on, but then I started scoring ~20. I ran out of time and had to read my last article super fast, but I still got to every question. I just had to skip past some that, had I had more time, I could've found the answer to. My method was to scan the article and then answer the questions by searching through the article.
QR: I was pretty surprised by how easy my QR section was compared to both Math Destroyer and Bootcamp. Maybe I just got lucky, but my questions were wayyyyy easier.. not just a little easier. I was getting nervous during the few days before because I started reading that some people had sections very comparable to Bootcamp/Destroyer, so during the 3 days before my test, I took 5 Math Destroyer practice tests. I think that helped me get focused. I had trouble finishing tests within the time allowed for both of these sources, but on the actual test I had 5 minutes left over. They prepare you to work quickly. In addition, my calculator, unlike what I had read or practiced with, was super fast, and I could use a keypad. It also had a square root function. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least.
Scores:
BIO: 22
GC: 26
OC: 23
TS: 23
PAT: 29
RC: 21
QR: 26
Overall experience: I studied for just under 6 weeks for the DAT. Granted, I did watch Chad's GC videos throughout the semester since I hadn't had GC since junior year of high school. I had to rewatch them again, though, since I forgot them. I studied between 8-12 hours a day and made sure to keep my sanity by doing a couple fun things on the weekends and working out regularly. I had to push my date back by 10 days because I didn't think I was going to be ready in one month from the time I started studying, and I realized this about two weeks in. I spent the first week doing Chad's videos, the second 1.5 weeks doing DAT Destroyer, and the rest of the time was a mix of practice tests and reviewing material, particularly bio and GC. In addition to those things, I spread the Math Destroyer tests out and the Crack DAT Pat tests out. I was really happy with my scores. The only section I felt really unsure on was bio. I had about 15 minutes left to review on the science section and 5 min left for the PAT. I was crammed for time on RC because I'm a really slow reader. I also finished about 5 minutes early on QR.
What I used to study:
AP Barrons Biology and the flashcards that you can buy with it: Excellent. I think this covered almost all the topics that were on my exam, but I wish I had had more time to study it.
Chad's videos: These were hands down awesome. They're the best for GC, but I felt like the other sections were well done. Chad is the man.
DAT Destroyer: Excellent, but I wish I had done the questions after I had done more reviewing. I think I would have felt more confident, and it would have been a better use of my time. If I had had more time to study for the exam, I would have done this book a second, third, etc. time and marked the ones I got wrong. I would have kept doing the ones I got wrong until I got them all right.
Math Destroyer: Excellent. This was way harder than my actual DAT, but prepared me really well. See Math below for more info.
CRACK DAT PAT: Good. This was worth my money because it helped me learn how to do all the sections. I felt like the hole punching, cube counting, and angle ranking were on par with the actual exam, but the key holes, TFE, and pattern folding were. I finished all these tests before the taking any Bootcamp practice exams.
DAT Bootcamp: Excellent. These tests were harder than my actual exam in every section, so I felt really prepared when I was actually testing.
Bio: My score was comparable to the higher scores of my practice tests. I definitely felt unsure on this section, but I think that's because I really didn't have a ton of time to study and review the material in detail... and it's a ton of material. I read though Cliff's AP and highlighted. That didn't really sink in, so I bought the AP Barrons Bio book with the 500+ flashcards that come with it. I outlined all the chapters in the book and did the end of chapter quizzes. I went through the flashcards ~3 times, and I really liked those! I used DAT Destroyer, but I think I made the mistake of using this book too early in my studying. I wish I had studied more first so I could have taken better advantage of DAT Destroyer rather than losing confidence.
GC: My actual test scores were higher than most of my practice test scores, except for one of my Bootcamp tests that predicted a 30 on the actual. I cannot stress enough how wonderful Chad's videos were for GC. Everything on my test was something he covered. I watched them throughout the semester since I hadn't had GC since junior year of high school. I started working on Destroyer problems and took some practice tests and came to the conclusion that I really needed to redo all the GC videos, so I did. And the Bootcamp test I took the day after was the one that I got a predicted score of 30 on. Again, I think Destroyer would have been way more helpful if I had waited and reviewed more before starting it.
OC: My actual test score was the lowest out of all my practice tests. I usually would only get 1-2 wrong. I didn't really study for this section because I had just finished OC in school, and I had a really hard but great professor. I did watch Chad's videos though, and I thought he did a great job.
PAT: Honestly, I have no clue how I managed to score this high. I got good scores on practices tests but never a 29. I started out with CRACK DAT PAT, and I think it was definitely worth my time and money. It helped me learn how to do the problems and got me used to the timing. Also, their format is how the actual DAT looks. I think the angles, hole punch, and cube counting are comparable to the actual test, but the keyholes, TFE, and pattern folding were slightly harder. I credit DAT Bootcamp for preparing me for the harder keyholes, TFEs, and pattern folding. I felt really comfortable on my test and finished 5 minutes early.
RC: I definitely started out the weakest in this section, and this was my weakest section on the actual test as well. I'm a slow reader, so I had to figure out a good method. It's hard to "study" for this section, but I think the best thing to do is just to read articles to increase your speed. My first Bootcamp test I actually scored a 16 on, but then I started scoring ~20. I ran out of time and had to read my last article super fast, but I still got to every question. I just had to skip past some that, had I had more time, I could've found the answer to. My method was to scan the article and then answer the questions by searching through the article.
QR: I was pretty surprised by how easy my QR section was compared to both Math Destroyer and Bootcamp. Maybe I just got lucky, but my questions were wayyyyy easier.. not just a little easier. I was getting nervous during the few days before because I started reading that some people had sections very comparable to Bootcamp/Destroyer, so during the 3 days before my test, I took 5 Math Destroyer practice tests. I think that helped me get focused. I had trouble finishing tests within the time allowed for both of these sources, but on the actual test I had 5 minutes left over. They prepare you to work quickly. In addition, my calculator, unlike what I had read or practiced with, was super fast, and I could use a keypad. It also had a square root function. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least.
